Susan Katz Keating

Make That, TWO Elephants In the Room Regarding Benghazi

2013-05-18T13:20:00.000-04:00

Actually, make that two elephants. Everyone is ignoring the two elephants in the room in re Benghazi. Jumbo Number One: Why are we afraid to reference the CIA?

Benghazi: Ignoring the Elephant In the Room

2013-05-18T06:00:00.000-04:00

There really is a rather large elephant in all this. Why are people afraid to approach it?

Why Did David Petraeus Risk All With Paula Broadwell? An Astrological Answer!

2013-05-17T20:02:00.000-04:00

So... what was the real reason David Petraeus mixed it up with Paula Broadwell? My astrologer pal Johnnie TwoBrows tells all! From an astrological perspective, that is. Johnnie casts a mean star chart (as I knew he would do), and today scopes out the twinklies as they pertain to the intriguing David P. Check out the findings here, at Johnnie's place! And tell him SKK sent you!

Dignity v Arrogance: In Which I Cannot Resist Making a Collage...

2013-05-17T17:00:00.000-04:00

Back From Assignment, Covering the Ohio Kidnaps for People Magazine

2013-05-17T06:00:00.000-04:00

Back from the trenches, Dear Ones...

The results are in the current issue of People magazine, in the story about the Ohio kidnaps.

As always, I am amazed at my People colleagues who worked tirelessly and with deep sensitivity to tell a tale that has captivated our nation and beyond.

I am proud to have been part of this team.

I Predict a New Military Metaphysics Series From Johnnie Twobrows....

2013-05-16T12:39:00.002-04:00

Hello, Dear Ones! Remember the fun metaphysical posts from my pal Johnnie Twobrows? I still get hits on Johnnie's astrology charts for the Army and the Marine Corps. Well, it looks as if Johnnie is at it again! I spoke to him the other day, and he said he's planning a new series of astrological charts on military leaders. Wow! That would be cool to read about! It all begins tomorrow, over at Johnnie's place. Hmmm... I wonder who he will start with? I wonder what he could tell us about the star chart for, say, David Petraeus? Not that I have special insight, or anything....

Frank Snepp, Former CIA Operative in Vietnam, Weighs in On Afghanistan

2013-05-16T06:00:00.000-04:00

My old CIA contact Snepp has resurfaced. He wrote a think-piece for the L.A. Times, comparing the situation in Afghanistan to the final days of the U.S. presence in Vietnam. Wrote Snepp:

During my own 5 1/2 years in Vietnam, as a CIA analyst, interrogator and operative, I learned another relevant but bitter lesson: Truth does not easily survive the pressures of American troop draw-downs or shifts in policy.

Why am I interested in his opinion? Because, as he says:

I was among the last CIA officers to be choppered off the U.S. Embassy roof in Saigon as the North Vietnamese took the country. Just two years before that chaotic rush for the exits, the Nixon administration had withdrawn the last American troops from the war zone and had declared indigenous forces strong enough, and the government reliable enough, to withstand whatever the enemy might throw into the fray after U.S. forces were gone.

Read more here: http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/2013/05/09/2495902/cia-veteran-vietnam-syndrome-again.html#storylink=cpy

He has much else to say on the subject, here.

Oh. He is Frank Snepp, formerly with the Phoenix and other programs. He wrote a couple books, one in particular that I find most interesting. It's called Decent Interval. He inscribed my copy with the note, above. We shared an editor at Random House.

Read more here: http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/2013/05/09/2495902/cia-veteran-vietnam-syndrome-again.html#storylink=cpy

Milspotters' Challenge: Are the Marines Testing New Combat Vacuums - Or What?

2013-05-15T06:00:00.000-04:00

Okay, Dear Ones: Explain. Is this Marine trying out a new combat vacuum cleaner from DARPA? Or what?

Way-cool pic by Lance Cpl. Larry Babilya

When Foreign Governments Tell the U.S. About Terrorists: The Case of Hassan Abu-Jihaad

2013-05-14T06:00:00.000-04:00

The USS Benfold

How many violent homegrown jihadists can fit within the sites of a tracking agency?

Good question. The answer is, "more than one;" but I have nothing more on specifics.

The folks at FBI told me I could use a story they wrote a couple years ago about one such radical who was caught before he had a chance to act. It's an interesting retrospective, in light of current events. Notice especially the info on how the FBI first learned about the potential perpetrator [hint: a foreign government brought him to the FBI's attention].

Anyway - it's a fascinating tale, and I'll let the Bureau-folk flesh it out for you. Take it away, Feds...

Passing Secrets at Sea

As a bevy of U.S. warships steamed towards the Middle East in the spring of 2001 on a mission to patrol the Persian Gulf, a sailor aboard one of those vessels was pursuing an entirely different mission.

His name was Hassan Abu-Jihaad, and he was serving as a signalman aboard the USS Benfold. Little did anyone know at the time, he was also a homegrown radical who was secretly in touch with al Qaeda financiers, sharing classified details about the vulnerabilities and movements of the ships just six months after al Qaeda operatives had killed 17 Americans aboard the USS Cole in the port of Yemen.

Abu-Jihaad’s traitorous actions were recently recounted in a Connecticut court, leading to his conviction last Wednesday on twin national security crimes: espionage and material terrorism support.

We learned about Abu-Jihaad in December 2003, when British authorities raided the apartment of Babar Ahmad, a Briton later charged with raising money for al Qaeda through a London-based organization called Azzam Publications. Its former website, www.azzam.com, was hosted on servers in Connecticut.

In Ahmad’s flat was a floppy disk with a password-protected document detailing what was then classified information about the travels and security weaknesses of the USS Benfold and the sister ships in its convoy. That document, it was proved at trial, was sent by Abu-Jihaad while aboard the Benfold, endangering the lives of his own shipmates and countless others.

The investigation—worked jointly by the New Haven Joint Terrorist Task Force and the Connecticut Department of Homeland Security in close cooperation with FBI offices in Phoenix and Chicago and a host of partners in the U.S. and overseas—also uncovered a trail of e-mail messages sent by Abu-Jihaad expressing support for Usama bin Laden, praising the Cole attack, recounting a security briefing on his vessel, and ordering various jihadist videos and other materials from Azzam.

Using court-authorized wiretaps, we monitored Abu-Jihaad’s conversations following his honorable discharge from the Navy. Among what we learned:

In one conversation, Abu-Jihaad said that he hadn’t “been in the field of making meals” for more than four years; “meals” was his code word for his ability to provide inside information on U.S. military targets. He also warned associates not to talk about jihad over the telephone or Internet because they were “tapped.”

In Arizona, Abu-Jihaad roomed with Derrick Shareef, who later pled guilty to plotting to attack a suburban Illinois mall using hand grenades during the 2006 holiday season. Our wiretaps revealed that Abu-Jihaad discussed attacking military targets in Phoenix and San Diego with Shareef.

SKK again: Read more here, for an update on what happened to Abu-Jihaad, and a timeline on his activities.

Still In the Field, Dear Ones

2013-05-13T13:46:00.004-04:00

But I should be coming in soon...

On Assignment...

2013-05-11T14:22:00.003-04:00

Make that, two assignments. AAR to follow...

When Marines Get Sneaky: "I Didn't See You at Camouflage Practise!"

2013-05-10T06:00:00.000-04:00

Snicker... and a wave of the invisible flag to Chuck Fowler for sending this in.

Who Gave the Order to Stand Down in Benghazi? Questions Persist

2013-05-09T13:05:00.003-04:00

Yesterday's Benghazi hearings were both fascinating and heartbreaking. It was difficult to watch the painful testimony, and the often self-serving and inadequate commentary from the Congressfolk on the dais. When the hearing ended, I was left with a great sense of gratitude and admiration and respect for those who spoke out. I also had a bad taste in my mouth regarding the process, and more questions than I had previously.

I'm not the only one who still wants answers. Shortly after the hearing, my fellow (former) Californian, Congressman Darrell Issa, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, released a statement.

Take it away, Rep. Issa...

“Today’s hearing offered officials at the State Department the opportunity to be heard. These witnesses revealed new information that undermines the Obama Administration’s assertion that there are no more questions left to answer about Benghazi. Numerous questions are still unanswered, despite months of dogged investigation by the Oversight Committee.

“Who denied the U.S. mission in Benghazi the increased security it requested months before the terror attacks? Who gave the order for special operations forces to stand down, preventing them from helping their compatriots under attack? What was the actual military capability and preparedness to respond to the mission’s requests for help?

“Today’s testimony also illustrated the serious concerns this Committee has with the ARB report – witnesses testified that the ARB failed to interview relevant witnesses and wrongly let senior officials off the hook. It is unacceptable that Gregory Hicks, the top U.S. Official in Libya after Ambassador Stevens death, has been kept to this day from seeing the classified report.

"Perhaps most troubling is the revelation of retaliation and intimidation tactics against life-long public servants who dared to question top officials on their inaccurate and highly public assertions about the attack. This Committee will stand behind these whistleblowers and will act swiftly if they face further retaliation or intimidation after speaking to us about what they know about Benghazi. The American people deserve the truth, and we are committed in our pursuit of the facts.”

SKK again: I have additional thoughts on this. I'm currently on assignment on a major story for the MSM, but will post when I have a break. Stay tuned, and keep asking those questions.

"Exposing Failure and Recognizing Courage:" Benghazi Hearing, Here I Come...

2013-05-08T06:00:00.000-04:00

Notepad: Check. Three pens: Check. Nelly: What, you think I'm nuts? Nelly goes almost everywhere with me in the Big Land of Open Carry (and CCP!) But the hearing is in D.C., people! I might even remove my Uzi bullet necklace, just so's to avoid triggering the dogs. AAR to follow...

Benghazi Hearings Set for Tomorrow

2013-05-07T13:00:00.000-04:00

I expect a big crowd at the Rayburn Building....

From the Pup Tent: Wilbur Gets His Helmet On

2013-05-07T06:00:00.000-04:00

Wilbur, a U.S. Marine Special Operations Team member, wears his handler's helmet after a patrol with Afghan National Army special forces to escort a district governor to a school in Helmand province, on April 15, 2013. USMC photo by Sgt. Pete Thibodeau

The Modern Yet Oddly Familiar Case of Sgt. William Millay, Russian Spy in the American Army

2013-05-06T06:00:00.000-04:00

On William Millay, the Army
uniform seems more like a disguise.

In the world of espionage, everything new is so familiar. Still, it seems odd to find a disgruntled American soldier attempting to sell secrets to Russia in 2011. Just last month, the Army's William Millay was sentenced for his part in a spy op that seems more suited to the 1980's.

Here's his story, courtesy of the FBI. Take it away, Feds...

A 22-year-old military police officer in Alaska has been sentenced to a 16-year jail term in connection with his efforts to sell classified documents to a person he believed was a Russian intelligence officer.
In 2011, William Millay was stationed at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson near Anchorage when he began to talk to—and solicit help from—other military members regarding selling classified national defense information to the Russians.

“This case really drives home the point that the insider threat is alive and well,” said Special Agent Sam Johnson, who supervises a national security squad in our Anchorage Division. “That’s why counterintelligence investigations continue to be a very high priority for the FBI.”

Millay, who joined the Army in 2007 and had served a combat tour in Iraq, was known to have harsh and sometimes radical views of the military and the U.S. government—the white supremacist tattoos on his body likely reflect his ideology. But his attempt at spying had nothing to do with ideology or politics, Johnson said. Instead, he was motivated by greed.

“Money was what he was after,” Johnson explained. “He was willing to sell sensitive information—to potentially endanger his fellow military members as well as the security of the country—for a payday.”

The Russian officer he believed he was dealing with, however, was really an FBI undercover operative. The case played out like a spy thriller, with Millay placing secret documents about military technology at a dead drop site—a pre-arranged hiding place—and later retrieving a payment of $3,000 in exchange.

After an extensive investigation, Millay was arrested in October 2011; in addition to attempted espionage, he was charged with soliciting another individual to commit espionage. He pled guilty to these and other violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice at a military court proceeding in March and was sentenced by a panel of military members earlier this month.

The investigation revealed that Millay had approached several soldiers about his treasonous plan, said Special Agent Derrick Criswell, who worked the case. “Some of the individuals he made statements to did not take him seriously,” Criswell noted, “but some did. Still, no one came forward to report his activity.”

Both Criswell and Johnson believe the fact that no one reported Millay further illustrates the need to raise awareness about the insider threat and the risk it poses to national security. “One person can do a tremendous amount of damage,” Johnson said.

Criswell’s duties as a counterintelligence investigator include presenting briefings to government and industry organizations regarding espionage and the insider threat. Despite his familiarity with the problem, though, Criswell added, “It is still shocking and always disappointing to identify anyone who is willing to betray his country in this manner.”

The Bureau investigated the case jointly with Army Counterintelligence and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations. “This has been a significant case for Alaska,” Johnson said, adding, “It’s the first known espionage arrest and prosecution that I am aware of in the state. And if it can happen here, it can happen anywhere.”

Dear SKK: "Live POW" Motives, & Why the Media Uses Three Names in Referencing Bad Guys

2013-05-05T06:00:00.000-04:00

Here's a few from the e-bin:

Dear SKK: You write for the MSM, so maybe you can explain something that's been bugging me for a long time. Whenever there's a big crime, like a mass murder, the MSM uses three names when writing about the bad guy. Why?

SKK: That's easy. The media wants to be clear who it's writing about. Lots of people have the same first and last names. Fewer have the same first, last, and middle names. This is also why you frequently see age included in the story. In the old days, we also used to include address. For purposes of example only: Barrack Hussein Obama, 51, of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, D.C. No doubt who we'd be talking about; right?

Dear SKK: You said you don't believe the reports about the guy in Vietnam who says he's a Green Beret. If he's lying, what would be the motive?

SKK: In most of these fake "live POW" cases, it comes down to one thing: Money. If you follow all the bread crumbs on these stories, someone either is making or asking for money.

Dear SKK: Are you still working on Benghazi?

SKK: Yep.

A Rescue in Wartime: How Army Sgt. James Hayes Saved a Fellow Paratrooper in Afghanistan

2013-05-04T06:00:00.000-04:00

Sgt. James Hayes

The Army public affairs folks sent me this tale of a rescue in wartime. The writeup and photo come via Sgt. Mike MacLeod of the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division. Take it away, Sgt. MacLeod...

Army Sgt. James Hayes has one piece of advice for soon-to-deploy mechanics: take your training seriously.

Hayes, a mechanic who deployed with the 82nd Airborne Division's 1st Brigade Combat Team to Afghanistan in 2012, said that the first time he had to rely on his training to right a flipped armored vehicle, everything worked exactly as he had trained.

At stake was the life of a fellow paratrooper, Army Spc. Justin Lansford, a turret gunner who was pinned under the top of a mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicle after it was flipped by an exploding improvised explosive device. Lansford was critically wounded and was bleeding heavily from femoral arteries.

"I remember thinking it was going to turn bad quick if I didn't do it right," said Hayes, a freckle-faced former German citizen and son of an American soldier.

When Hayes, Army Cpl. Joshua Dobson and two other mechanics arrived at the attack site, medics were treating Lansford, and the damaged vehicle was on fire, Hayes said.

After extinguishing the fire, the mechanics determined the correct lifting points and amount of winch force to apply based on the vehicle's weight, and gently lifted the wreckage high enough to extricate the pinned paratrooper.

"I can't even explain to you how rewarding that feeling was," Hayes said.

Lansford was airlifted from the battlefield, eventually recovering from his injuries at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. Although Lansford lost both of his legs above the knee, he was glad to be alive, he said.

During Hayes' six-month deployment, he and his team recovered 15 to 20 vehicles. Most were for mechanical failures or driver inexperience, or a combination of the two, he said.

On one convoy, three vehicles, including Hayes' wrecker, were struck by IEDs within seconds of each other. He and Dobson escaped injury, but soldiers in both of the other two vehicles were medically evacuated by helicopter.

The wrecker had been towing a damaged vehicle when it was hit, so mechanics used a larger truck to tow both vehicles in-line, Hayes said. The train of towed vehicles may have looked odd, he said, but it worked to take them off the battlefield.

"The training really works," Hayes said.

Milspotters' Challenge, Via Minicapt: Sign Language, Anyone?

2013-05-03T06:00:00.000-04:00

Minicapt managed to slip away from Campfire Duty long enough to send in this mystery pic. Your challenge: Decode the secret Soldier sign language being used on this assuredly quiet mission. And while you're at it: Name that tank!

From the Pup Tent: Notice Anything About That Fast Rope?

2013-05-02T06:00:00.000-04:00

Hint: look at the legs! Yep, that is one brave puppy. He should be: He's a Ranger dog! He and his Soldier serve with B Company, 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment. In this pic, they're working on their Fast Rope Insertion and Extraction (FRIES) techniques, out of a MH-60 from the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment while training at Joint Base Lewis-McCord, Wash. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Michael Spoor

Back on Benghazi...

2013-05-01T12:44:00.003-04:00

Stay tuned. More to come...

From the Keyboard of Allen West: "Enough! The Obama Administration is Abetting the Enemy"

2013-05-01T06:00:00.000-04:00

In the words of one my heroes, Col. Allen West:

What kind of country have we become when we allow Islamic organizations with ties to the Muslim Brotherhood to ruin the career of an Army officer with 6 combat deployments, decorated for Valor? The fact that these groups went to now CIA Director John Brennan with their complaint when he was our counter-terrorism adviser warrants investigation.

We are giving domestic Islamic jihadists welfare. We cease interrogations of domestic Islamic jihadists to read them Miranda rights. We are calling treasonous domestic Islamic jihadists perpetrators of "workplace violence." The Attorney General is lecturing Americans about reprisals. Enough! I believe this Obama administration is indeed aiding, enabling, and abetting our enemy, radical Islamic jihadists.

The evidence is certainly mounting and I am sick of the progressive socialists who just want to excuse this away and try to silence us as "Islamophobes." You progressives are all complicit in this as well! I want Lt. Col. Dooley back on the list for consideration of Battalion Command, anyone not agreeing is in the camp of the enemy. Read and share this article. Call and write the Secretary of the Army, Chief of Staff of the Army, Secretary of Defense, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and President Obama…ask them whose doggone side are they on?

SKK, again: Damn, I love this guy.

The Case of Green Beret John Robertson: Prisoner of Hope, 2013

2013-04-30T12:30:00.001-04:00

An American Green Beret who went missing 44 years ago in Laos now has been found alive in Vietnam?

The Irish and British press appear to have bought off on the claim.

How ridiculous. Nothing about this story adds up, and a lot falls apart. The most outrageous charge regarding this case is that the Pentagon doesn't want to recover its missing man.

Okay, so that's why the Defense Department still sends in teams to check out reports of sightings and remains and to excavate crash sites?

Say what you will about various DoD practices, but I assure you of this: The Pentagon would want to bring home a missing serviceman. I should know. I researched this issue extensively while covering the POW/MIA issue for the Washington Times, and while writing my book, Prisoners of Hope: Exploiting the POW/MIA Myth in America.

Here's the latest on the case of SFC John H. Robertson, who now is the subject of a film purporting to show him alive and thriving and semi-amnesiac in Vietnam. How does the film producer know he has his man? Because he "feels" it to be him. The Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office has this to say about the case.

On 20 May 1968, SFC John H. Robertson was the only American aboard a Vietnamese Air Force H-34 helicopter, which was attempting to re-supply an American Special Forces unit that had been under heavy enemy fire. As the helicopter approached its landing zone near the unit (Kalum District, Xekong Province, Laos), it received heavy enemy ground fire.

The pilot attempted to pull away and, losing power, turned the aircraft toward the northeast. The helicopter then struck a row oftrees, exploded into flames, and crashed on a hillside. American witnesses, both on the ground and onboard nearby aircraft, saw the helicopter crash and burn. According to these witnesses, there was no indication that anyone survived.

In 2002, U.S. Government officials received the first of many reports from contacts in both the United States and Southeast Asia suggesting that American serviceman Hartley John Robertson was alive and wanted to return home. "Proof' provided by individuals included data sheets with identification data/fingerprints,biologic matter for DNA testing, and photographs/videos. Associated photographs received, to date, depict at least four different mixed-race Asian men, two of whom have been identified by name.

U.S. Government investigators have personally interviewed each of the men identified by name, and both admitted they were not American POWs. In 2004, Government officials received the first still photographs and a videotape depicting the same mixed-race Asian man depicted in Mr. Jorgensen's recently released film, Unclaimed. This individual's name is Dang Than Ngoc, and he is a Vietnamese citizen. Mr. Ngoc was interviewed by U.S. investigators on 20 April, 2006, and after being caught up in inconsistencies with his story, provided his real name and stated he had been presenting himself as an American for a number of years.

During February 2009, two American missionaries, at least one of whom appears in Mr. Jorgensen's film, accompanied Mr. Ngoc from Vietnam where he lives, to Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

While in Cambodia, the missionaries made Mr. Ngoc available to American officials who interviewed him, took pictures or him, and obtained fingerprints and hair samples for comparison to unaccounted-for serviceman John H. Robertson. The fingerprints were analyzed by the FBI and determined not to match reference fingerprints on file.

The DNA sequences from hair samples obtained were compared to family reference samples held by the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory (AFDIL). Lab technicians determined the sequences did not match. Moreover, biological material provided to a known scam artist by Mr. Ngoc and eventually confiscated by FBI agents in 2010 was determined to be from a haplogroup most commonly associated with Asian individuals.

Bottom Line: Mr. Dang Than Ngoc is not an unaccounted-for American serviceman.

Turn In Your Arms; The Government Will Take Care of You: Does Billboard Belittle the Sioux?

2013-04-30T10:17:00.000-04:00

I'm not Native American, but it seems to me that this billboard supports the N.A. point of view. And speaks to the truth about a deadly serious issue facing all Americans today.